The Kevin Sheehan Show - Ted's Take + Jay Gruden

Episode Date: August 15, 2024

Ted Leonsis' letter to Kevin and Thom opened the show. Ted's letter was a response to the guys' conversation yesterday about Ted's declaration that the Summer Olympics would someday be here in Washington. Next up, Jay Gruden jumped on to talk training camp, preseason, Jayden Daniels, and more. Kevin ended with some numbers on Caitlin Clark which led him to say that she's the only team sport athlete who deserves an equity/ownership stake. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Cheehan Show is Kevin. The presenting sponsor of this show, as always, is Window Nation. Give them a call at 86690 Nation or go to WindowNation.com. For what Susan L wrote and told me was the best recommendation she's acted on in a long time. Quote, Kevin, I had no idea that I needed new windows as much as I used.

did. I'm very thankful for the recommendation, the best recommendation I've had in a while. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Well, thank you, Susan. If you think you need new windows, 86690 Nation, windownation.com, mention my name, and they'll come out to your home and give you a free estimate. Jay Gruden's going to be on the show today. Next segment, Jay Gruden, and Jay will be on all football season long again this year. He'll join us on Fridays. We'll get a preview of the NFL weekend and look back to the previous weekend, including Washington's game. This from a friend of mine, Kenny texted me today. I'm sure you've seen Transparent Ted's letter to you and Tom. Will someone tell him that his best contribution to this city would be an NBA team that doesn't suck,

and a second and third Stanley Cup, enough of looking for the next big thing when the most important thing is right in front of them. Kenny's text was actually two parts because the first part was, I'm sure you've seen Transparent Ted's letter to you and Tom, which I had not seen at that point, but then I went and found,

and I will read it to you guys here in a moment. And then in our back and forth, he said, just somebody tell him that his best contribution to this city would be an NBA team that doesn't suck and a second and third Stanley Cup. Enough of looking for the next big thing when the most important thing is right in front of him. So Tom and I on yesterday's show talked about a tweet that Ted sent out. It was actually part of a retweet. Adam Tuss with NBC Channel 4 had tweeted out as we wrap up. the Olympics, a reminder that DC bid on the 2024 games. Ted retweeted that and wrote,

this will happen in the future and it will be amazing for the city, region, country, and world. We learned a lot during our 2024 bid and will apply those lessons, excited for L.A. 2028 and Salt Lake City 2034. And so Tom and I talked about Ted's tweet and Tom, who's been very consistent on host

cities and the Olympics. He's been very critical over the years, pointing out that the Olympics often leave the host cities in bad shape and that the IOC is corrupt and it's not worth dealing with them to be a host city. I'm actually

interested in learning more about what's involved in being a host city and whether or not the, you know, the disappointment for host cities is avoidable. You know, Ted claims that, and I'll read the letter here to you in a moment, that a lot of cities have had great success

with the Olympics. I'd love to see the city that I was born, raised, and live in be the focal point of the world for two weeks, and I talked about that yesterday, but I am skeptical, because of, you know, our city in general, the logistics, the tight geography, the bad traffic, the terrible summer, you know, sweltering heat. And I just kind of think that the IOC would never pick D.C.

Tommy added that D.C. is, you know, not a beloved city by many in power around the world because it's, you know, the seat of tremendous power. But anyway, Ted listened to the show yesterday and wrote us a letter on Twitter on X. I'll read it now. And by the way, I've got a few comments after I read the letter. But for the most part, I'm going to wait until tomorrow's show when Tom is on for a more full discussion. And I'd love to get Ted on the show with Tom and I to have a more, you know, full in-depth discussion on the topic as well. I mean, it's perfect for this time of year. These are the dog days of August, so it would work.

But anyway, here's the letter that he wrote. He tweeted out, Kevin and Tom, I listened and appreciated the conversation. Wanted to put my thoughts down in response. And so he's got a letter to us, Kevin and Tom. I am too old to be involved with a next generation bid for the Olympic Games in D.C., but I do have institutional knowledge about the process. and hope a younger energetic leader locally can emerge willing to activate the community and go for it and take the risk and the slings and the arrows that would be coming their way. The U.S.

O.C., the U.S. Olympic Committee, must pay respect at some point to the hand that feeds them, the federal D.C. I'm assuming he's, he means the federal government. And our community has many of the same pieces that an LA has as to infrastructure, arenas, stadiums, airports, and universities. We are the most global destination in America, and we are accustomed to hospitality for tourists and VIP visitors. We are also the most secure destination on the planet. You know, when he says that I'm assuming he is referring to being a secure and a safe destination. I don't think a lot of you know that while the reputation for our city when it comes to things like crime is not great outside of this city, we are one of the most policed cities in America with the federal

government being here. And in comparison to many other cities, it is, I don't know, this is more opinion, but I think there's some statistical data out there to back it up that it is a relatively safe city. But anyway, I continue. The games to be bid on would most likely be held 20 to 24 years from now. And Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. will support the games and host events. I bet even Virginia State Senator Louise Lucas will be supportive as events would be hosted across the region, including her district. I don't know. I don't know if Ted's involved, although again, 20 to 24 years from now, I don't know if she'd be a big fan. But anyway, he continues. Tom may still be writing for the Washington Times. And Kevin, you may still be hosting your show in 244. From your lips to God's ears, Ted.

I hope you're right. But we need new younger leaders to think big and go for it. it for the community and country benefit. I also would advocate for the U.S.O.C. to move its headquarters to D.C. so that it is front and center and can activate the federal government to aid our athletes much more than present. By the way, I went and looked it up, and he wrote, the U.S.OC is hiding in the mountains. They're out in Colorado Springs. That's where they are based. And he writes, the U.S.O.C. is hiding in the mountains, and we do not do our athletes as service like other countries do. And still, look at how productive and world class our athletes produce in the games. Imagine if we coordinated the efforts and made the Olympic movement a part of the fabric of Washington, D.C. and the DMV.

The world's best, like Katie Ledecki and Michael Phelps from Maryland, from Maryland, fasted on the planet. Noah Liles, youngest American male track Olympian and gold medalist, Quincy Wilson. By the way, Quincy Wilson, remember we had his coach from Bullis on the show. He was great, and he was a listener of the show. You know, Quincy Wilson, I was following the story. He was a part of the 4x400 relay team. He did not run in the final in which they did win in a very close call. The women, on the other hand, in the 4x400, one of the all-time routes I've ever seen in a track of then. Ted continues. And please muzzle the whiners that say, quote, but the traffic, the heat, the investment, the white elephant buildings, lazy loser recycled complaints. I have watched

the London games and now the Paris games closely. And while some games like Brazil did not help the economy as advertised, London and Paris were huge wins for all. uplifted tech infrastructure, new public transportation, low-income housing, activated tourism, expanded city limits, created venues that are now used by communities in which they were erected, cleaned up rivers, made waterways usable for commutes, and reintroduced London and Paris as world-class, modern cities filled with history in great engaging people. They are great cities, but I think I knew they were great cities before the Olympics, Ted, but just saying drove ongoing tourism, but put people to work to stimulate the economies during the

construction stages. I think we either make dust or we will eat dust as a community. Don't look back, Tom and Kevin, look forward and let us all get motivated to be healthy and live long enough to cover the greater Washington games. Well, that I will take you up on. I need to start eating better and I definitely need to start sleeping better. Become cheerleaders for our community. Grow interest in sports and competition. Shine a positive light on our locale and people. It is a great life mission.

So, for starters, I appreciate that it mattered enough to him to respond. You know, a couple of weeks ago, remember Tom mentioned, and I think I have this right. Tom mentioned that Ted responded to something that he tweeted, and it was a good-natured reference. I think it was in reference to, you know, Tom's nickname for Ted, transparent Ted, which was nice to see because being able to sort of appreciate being the butt of the joke

is a very healthy trait. It is. But anyway, for starters, I do appreciate that he wrote the letter. Secondly, I would say that, you know, overall, there's a lot that I can't speak to as to whether or not it's true or not. But I think the last two paragraphs, which I'll read again real quickly here, are where Ted, I think, kind of takes Tom and I to task the most. You know, he writes, you know, and please muzzle the whiners that say, but the traffic, the heat, the investment, the white elephant. Elephant buildings. Lazy, loser, recycled complaints. I've watched the London games and now the Paris games closely. And while some games like Brazil did not help the economy as advertised, London and Paris were huge wins for all.

And then he says, you know, I think we make dust or we will eat dust. Don't look back, look forward, get us all motivated, become cheerleaders, etc. So I'm open, you know, to the possibility that some of the. the things that we talked about, and I talked about this yesterday, that I'm open to learning more. Like, I'd love to see what that 2024 pitch looked like from the DC bid. Like, what were the projected costs? What was the budget for it? What were the projected revenues? What were the long-term benefits? You know, why was it such a win? Why was it so worth it? I would just say this, when it comes to the comment about, you know, lazy loser and recycled complaints,

you know, muzzle the whiners about things like weather and traffic. I think these are pretty intuitive concerns, aren't they? I mean, I, again, I'm open to being more informed, but I would be rather surprised if things like weather and traffic aren't part of the conversation when the IOC is making their decisions. I mean, you're telling me that a Phoenix bid wouldn't create a conversation about the heat, that a, you know, like a New Orleans bid or a Miami bid wouldn't create a conversation about hurricane season, or that, you know, a New York bid with what Tommy had said,

the New York bid had a proposed, whenever New York did bid, there was a proposed brand new Olympic stadium in the West Village. That wouldn't result in questions about traffic and transportation. I mean, I don't personally think that's whining or lazy loser and recycled as much as it is kind of obvious, you know, natural, instinctual, intuitive. But whatever. When he writes that the games in London were a huge success, several of you did reach out to me with different stories about how the London games were actually a disaster financially.

I did find this, according to Yahoo Finance, the 2012 London Games, the cost was $18 billion, the revenue generated was $5 billion. That would be a $13 billion short in the difference between what it costs and the revenue generated. And in that report or in that story that I read, much of the economic job gain was very short-lived or short-lived, however you want to pronounce that. The job creation was primarily short-lived because it came prior to the games and then those jobs disappeared after the games. But I'm not an expert on Olympic profit and loss statements, you know. but I know that there have been a lot of disasters. I mean, Beijing was a disaster. Rio was, Salt Lake was, you know, back, you know, in the early 2000s.

And look, Salt Lake's going back down that path again in 2034. I would say that the Olympics, at the very least, there's some risk in being a host city. Of course, I'm also kind of aware that the benefits may not be, tangible or may not be quantifiable. You know, does the promotion of your city in a very

positive light over two weeks, you know, and does that produce a long-term gain? I mean, Ted pointed out increased tourism, you know, clean rivers, new tech infrastructure, etc. Maybe he's right about that, that ultimately

you know, long-term, you know, the way your city's viewed results in great gain. You know, and then the only thing I would say because this, I know, I've listened to Ted speak enough over the years, and we've had conversations with Ted, although not recently at all. When he says, I think we either make dust or we will eat dust as a community, don't look back,

Tom and Kevin, look forward, you know, and let us all get motivated to be healthy and live long enough to cover the great Washington games, become cheerleaders for our community, grow interest in sports and competition, shine a positive light on our locale and people. It is a great life mission. Look, part of that is, you know, and I do understand some of this. I love my partner dearly, but Tom can sort of err on the side of being overly critical and overly negative. But I would also say that, you know, when I hear Ted or anybody like Ted from very much sort of a high-tech, innovative, you know, industry, entrepreneurial, you know, industry, entrepreneurial ventures, and so many of them that Ted's been in, when I hear those people say,

don't look back, look forward, it's too much of a, hey, I'm the visionary here, you know, I'm the one that pushes the envelope. I'm the one that creates. I'm the one that is edgy and risk-taking. So just kind of get on board with me. And let me just be clear on this. I get that. You know, most of you know this. I was involved in four startup companies before I ever got into this business. And trust me, I appreciate and respect those that create and take risks. and I'm one of those that understands that the people that take those risks deserve what comes their way when those risks pay off. So, yeah, that's not...

Anyway, as far as being a cheerleader for the community, I love this city. I think I've been cheerleading for this city for a long time. I'm very, I'm very, very much a Washingtonian. I've also spent a lot of time in other cities, and I would say trying to be as objective as I can, that there are other cities that just seem more obvious as host cities for the Summer Olympics. I'm talking about in the U.S. than D.C., but I am open to hearing more and learning more. I would also agree with my buddy Kenny, you know, not that there needs to be a choice, you know, Wizards, Caps, or Olympics.

But if you told me that I have a choice between getting the Olympics 24 years from now or having the Wizards become a contender and sooner rather than later, man, that's what I want my NBA owner to be solely focused on. He can't be solely focused on it because he has other teams he owns and he's got other ventures that he's in. But I'll tell you what, of all the things that Ted is involved in, it's my opinion that his NBA team has the most potential. In terms of an entertainment product,

I'm not talking about some sort of biotech or some sort of tech creation that will help mankind. In terms of an entertainment product, if the Wizards ever became a legitimate sustained contender, it would do so much, so much good for this city. and our community. All right. More tomorrow, much more tomorrow on this with Tommy.

To the things that I think most of you care about much more than that, our football team, they are off to South Florida today for tomorrow's joint practice with the Dolphins. But today, the team did make an addition. Yesterday we talked about the edition of Martavis Bryant, which, by the way, there was something that was written. Let me find it here. It was essentially that the suspensions that he went through were weed suspensions. They were marijuana suspensions. I mean, the leagues relaxed their rules on marijuana.

A lot of what he got suspended and then reinstated for and then went against his reinstatement, had to do with weed. So it wasn't something much worse than that. I did watch an interview with him. There's not much of it, to be honest with you, worth replaying on the show. But you could tell he has been humbled and that this is an opportunity for him

and he is ready to do whatever they ask him to do. Anyway, the move today was that Sam Hartman, you know, he got hurt in the game the other day with the shoulder, appears to be out for this week. And Marcus Mariotta is also dealing with a minor injury, according to Ben Standing. And his status for tomorrow's joint practice right now is in doubt. So the team signed Trace McSorley. Trace McSorley played in Arizona with Cliff Kingsbury, was on that roster. he was a legendary high school player in Northern Virginia in Ashburn out in Loudoun County for Briar Woods

and then had a really good career at Penn State before getting drafted and playing a couple of years as a backup to the backup. In fact, he was a backup to RG3, who was a backup to Lamar Jackson in Baltimore. The team released offensive lineman Mason Brooks to make way for Trace McSorley. It just actually brings up an interesting conversation, I guess, interesting for August 14th, and that is what quarterbacks are they going to keep? Some of you are ready to move on from Marcus Mariotta already. And it's not just because of the three plays against the Jets, but you just weren't big fans of Marioita when they signed him.

And that's not an unreasonable opinion at all. I'm probably a slightly bigger fan of Marioita than many of you. but primarily as a backup quarterback. But I would suggest this as it relates to Marioada. He's not going anywhere. I mean, he'd have to really implode. He'd have to really soil himself over this final month before, or final two weeks before the cut down date,

because they gave him a one-year $6 million contract with $5.4 million of the $6 million guaranteed. So he's not going anywhere. The interesting conversation comes when you consider, will they keep a third quarterback? And if they keep a third quarterback, who will it be? They gave Sam Hartman some guaranteed money, you know, a signing bonus, which meant they were really interested in having him in camp, and interested in having him compete for maybe the third job if they were going to keep three quarterbacks. I guess it's possible you could put Sam Hartman on the practice squad and that he would survive the practice.

squad. Jeff Driscoll is actually the interesting quarterback, not because he looked, you know, decent in a preseason game, but because he adds to this wealth of experience that they have in the quarterback room with Marcus Marietta already. If you were to add Jeff Driscoll, he's 31 years old, he's played in this league, you know, for six, seven years, multiple teams, and then you combine that with Cliff Kingsbury and Tevita Pritchard and David Blow. They have, you know, a really good, experienced guys who have played the position in that group to support their number two overall pick. You know, Sam Hartman, Trace McSorley's here to carry them through the rest of

these preseason games. Make no mistake. I don't think Tracy McSorley's making the team. Wishing the best, you know, but, you know, barring lots of injuries, he's likely not going to be on the team. He's here to take a lot of snaps because Sam Hartman's banged up and Marty Oda may not be able to play. So they're not going to have Jaden play a lot. So do you want Driscoll basically taking three and a half quarters? No, McSorley will come in and probably play. the second half against the Dolphins and maybe, you know, a bunch of the game against the Patriots. But I don't know. You know, three quarterbacks, two quarterbacks, you know, you can keep that third now and not, you know,

and have that third available. Remember, with the new rule, which came about because of what happened in the San Francisco Philadelphia Championship game after the 22 season when they were essentially down to Christian McCaffrey playing quarterback. so you can, you know, dress three and that third emergency can be available without counting on the 46-man game day roster. I wouldn't be surprised if it's Daniels Marioita, which I think are Givens, and then Driscoll. He's played a lot of NFL football, and if he's good in the locker room, and, you know, certainly he's willing to be in this role because he's been a backup everywhere he's been. I mean, he has started 11 games in the NFL.

By the way, one in 10 in 11 starts in the NFL. 16 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, however, in those games. I wouldn't discount Driscoll from making the team and then Hartman being on the practice squad. All right. Jay Gruden will join me next, right after these words from a few of our sponsors. Hey guys, the slightest of edges make a huge difference in the games that we love to watch. In shaving, Harries gives you the sharpest edge with their razors.

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Joining me right now is the former head coach of the Washington Redskins, Jay Gruden. Jay's going to be with me again during the regular season on Fridays on the podcast, where he will make his pick of the week, which did very well last year. And we'll, of course, go back on Fridays and get his thoughts on the previous Washington game and preview the game that weekend. We are in preseason, Jay. Are these preseason games for you now as, you know, a fan slash analyst, worse to watch or were they worse to coach?

Both. They're necessary, though. They're a necessary evil as a coach because you have a lot of competition going on on your football team for the bottom half of your roster. And it's very important to get these guys meaningful experience because, you know, like I told my team at the beginning of the year, you guys that are second and third team or practice squad guys, you guys are going to be needed because of all the injuries that take place.

And, of course, they were. So to pick the right practice squad guys, the right backups, maybe get some guys some competition for starting tackle or starting guard or starting nickel or whatever it might be. These are necessary games. Third, fourth quarter, hard to watch sometimes. But it's very important for the kids playing it because they're showing all the league what they can do.

on tape. Is it really the back half of the roster, or is it more like the final 5, 6, 7 spots on the roster? I think probably more so the final 5, 6, 7 spots, but some of the back half guys are going to get to meaningful time.

You know, your backup linebackers are going to play. You've got to make sure they're the right guys. Make sure they can tackle. You might have some rookies that are your backed up linebacker. You know, like, you know, the kid that Washington drafted this year, he's their backup linebacker behind Bobby Wagner. Something happens with Bobby Wagner. This kid's going to jump into the starting lineup.

So it's important for these guys to get the reps, see what they can do, make sure they have the right mentality to play. They can hit, they can hustle. They pursued the football at the right ankles and offensively make sure they're communicating, getting up to the right levels of offensive alignment. Backed up offensive alignment are critical to get these guys your reps and see how they do. When did it start where the starters really stopped playing? Either all together, because some starters don't play at all together, because some starters don't play

all during the preseason. Some starting quarterbacks won't play at all. And then others play very little. When did that become a thing? When did it become a thing where the most important thing is getting to the opener with our key players being healthy? Yeah, probably I would say the time that I recall, I think Sean McVeigh was the first one to really do it at L.A. He didn't play his starters at all, not even a snap. And then some people took, said, well, Sean did it. And he went to the Super Bowl. they have some success early in the season, then maybe we should do it as well because, you know, as you know, I lost a couple key players in the preseason games.

I wish I wouldn't have played them. You know, Darius Geis, you know, blew his knee out on the seventh carry against Baltimore in the first preseason game. Jordanry got that big concussion against Atlanta, which held him out for the first five weeks before I got fired. Those are two huge pieces to your football team that you can't lose. You need them, get them experience. You need to, I get all that, but you've got to get him healthy.

You've got to give it a week one, but you've got to give him a starting line. Yeah, that Jordan. Reed thing. That's probably, that's got to be at the top of your preseason regret list. Oh, yeah, that and Darius. I told Darius that he's going to get seven carries in the game. If he didn't fumble and protected the quarterback, I was going to name him starter. And on the seventh, carry, he blew me out. So I could have said six. I could have said five. I don't know why I said seven. I said seven. I was counting. I was tracking. How many is that for Darius? That's five. How many is that for Darius? Okay, one more carry. Blow out me.

So yeah, it was tough. And we had some other injury, too, that hurt us. But you got to play. You got to get these guys some reps. Not all of them are in the category of, you know, stars on your football team where they can sit out. A lot of these guys need to work. They got to have the competition. I got to see them coming out of the huddle, how they adjust in different fronts,

coverages and blitzes and all that stuff. So it's just, it's just there's no right or wrong way to handle it, in my opinion. It just depends on your football team and your gut as a coach. What is missed the most from not playing starters more meaningful minutes in the preseason when you get to the regular season? Just continuity and breaking the huddle and the communication, you know, playing off things that you see. Not scripted football, scripted football and practice is a lot different than unscripted plays in the game. You know what I mean? And how you adjust to certain things and how you tackle and how you break tackle and how you protect the football.

How you go through your progression as a quarterback. Obviously, you're playing a preseason game. You're not going to see that team again probably throughout the entire season so you can probably scrap the game plan. But coming up with a game plan for a specific team, executing that plan, and then just seeing how people do on a competitive basis. My opinion is the one thing that is so obvious early in a regular NFL season. And maybe this was always the case, but so much more the case.

in recent years, is the tackling is terrible. Yeah, exactly. That's why these games are important because you might play a guy who looks like, well, he's always in the right spot. But you never know if he can really tackle unless you have some live tackling drills or a situation where he's got to bring a guy down. And that's why these games are important, especially for, like I said, the backups. You know, Bobby Wagner, you know, can tackle him.

I mean, he's been in a league for, you know, 10 years at least. You know, he can tackle it. And some of those guys don't need that. Jonathan Allen or on pain, they probably don't need it. but these other guys, you know, the rookie, like I mentioned, I got two rookies, defense's tackle, a linebacker, they got to tackle. Forbes had his issues, tackle, and let's see if he's gotten better. So, yeah, you need to do it because you've got to see if these guys can execute when the lights are on.

Is there a player that you remember who came out of nowhere during training camp or in the preseason games that you ended up keeping when you didn't think heading into camp he had a chance of making the team? Not off the top of my head. You know, we just, you know, confirmed a few things with some younger guys, but we always had, you know, issues on defense. We're trying to find the right guy. And we really never had anybody come out of nowhere.

You know, Reeves, we had Reeves. We got Reeves from Philadelphia, you know, practice squad guy. He was a guy that probably emerged. I don't know if we got them after a preseason or not, but I'm just trying to think guys that we had. Not off the top of my head, really. Is there a guy? Receivers, you know, we had some guys, receivers come through.

and make some plays for some preseason that we liked. Was there a guy that you cut that ultimately you regretted more than any other? No, not really. I don't remember a guy that we cut that went on somewhere else that really performed well. You know, we lost guys to free agency, as you will. Right. But not so much as I cut that I can recall off the top of my head. These joint practices that, you know, became a thing, you know, 10, 15 years ago, whenever,

are they treated, I've been at a couple of them, but there's so much activity going on. Are they treated like a scrimmage where you can ask the opposing coach to provide you with certain looks for your offense and you do the same? You know, it's like in basketball scrimmages, you can ask the other coach, hey, we need to work on our press break. Will you press us for a little while? Or we need to work on our zone offense. Will you zone us for a while? Is that part of the joint practice plan? A little bit, mainly situation-related, third-down, you know, third and short, red zone, short-yardage, things of that nature, two-minute drill.

Those are huge. And then obviously your special team alignments and assignments and all that stuff is huge for the special team coaches. It go against another team. But, yeah, we really like to work on a lot of third-down stuff. And I'm a lot of unscripted stuff, which I like the best is, you know, team situation. We get the ball to minus 30. We're going to take a drive down the field and it's unscripted. You know, so many times I've mentioned before,

the scripted plays of quarterback knows what plays coming, and other receivers know what plays come, and the linemen know what protection is coming. Now all of a sudden we don't know what the down-and-distance. Okay, it's third and two. Now we've got to come up a third-and-two play and execute that play. That's what I like the best about the joint practices. Do you remember ever coming out of a pre-season

or being in a pre-season where you thought, uh-oh, we are going to struggle this year? Or the opposite where you thought, man, we got a chance to be really good. My first year as a coach, we really had a rough inner squad scrimmage with the Patriots. Tom Brady, just nice and the part, and we couldn't gain any yards. So that was a big, uh-oh moment.

We got a lot of work to do in about eight days. Otherwise, it's going to be a miserable year. It was pretty much a miserable year. We were correct. Yeah. All right. Tell me what you saw in the one series offensively with Jaden Daniels in the first.

team offense Saturday against the Jets? I think that Cliff did a really good job of giving him plays that were easy to execute. You know, I think they ran a ball extremely well. Obviously, he had an 11 played drive, and I think seven of them were called runs. One was a screen that

Jaden Daniel's audible two to a go ball because he had press coverage on the outside. Obviously, that was a great throw. He missed a screen to Echler, he threw it over and said by about eight yards. Then he threw a little bubble screen to Terry McCorn. So not a whole lot, but then in the end zone, what he is. He's his own read dynamic guy that can hurt you real bad with his legs and obviously

he scored a touchdown. So I think from an execution standpoint, Cliff got what he wanted. He got a good running game. He got some good hits on the inside zone. Execution-wise was good. The communication at the line of scrimmage, they got an audible in there. They didn't really get Jayden outside the pocket on any naked during that, which will really help them out as well. He went under center once. Most of the time he's in the gun. I think 10 plays he was a on one time under center, so they have that dynamic under center. So, you know, it was an impressive first series for the offense against a pretty good jet defense. I wasn't sure who the Jets played if they played their starter.

They did. They did. Yeah. They were not one starter defensively was in there. Yeah, so that's a little bit different. So we hoped that they could score against their second string defense, which they did. Yeah. So that's off to them.

What did you make of, and I'm assuming you heard about this, that when Jaden checked to that 42-yard pass to Dea Brown that they didn't want him checking in that game. I think they wanted him to avoid any pure dropback because the offensive line in front of him was kind of limited. They had some injuries, but he did it anyway. What would your reaction have been? Well, it would have been fine. It's fine because it's just a quick three, five-step drop, and he just threw a go ball on the outside. If you're throwing a receiver screen out there and it's double-press cover, just a tough down. The inside receiver's got a block the press corner, and he's going to bring his nickel right with him.

I think Echler was, had a linebacker on him. Those two guys, it would have been a train wreck if they ran the screen. So I think for any kind of success, he had to get out of that play, which he did and executed it and threw it to the right guy, a little 35-yard fade route down the right side. Everybody's like, that's an elite throw. It's a patent-go. Pat and go, the corner was terrible. The safety had a terrible angle.

But it was a great throw, and good job by Deaumi Brown of shielding the defender with his body. So you mentioned Kingsbury, and I was going to ask you about it. Got it. Was there a takeaway or two in terms of what you think you're going to see in the regular season? There were a couple of things that I thought might be things we'll see in the regular season. What did you think? What did you see? I think a lot of shot done, which that's what Kyler Murray did a lot of, a lot of inside zones, you know, the sifts with the tight ends coming back, a lot of that stuff. The things we didn't see were the play actions off of it.

I think that's where they're going to be very good. You saw some of it with the backups in the game with Mariotta. They had some good play action shots down the scene, so not where he broke three tackles. I mean, he had some good stuff with the play action stuff. But I think with Jaden, I think you're going to see more bootlegs and things of that nature, get him outside the pocket where he can utilize his legs and his arm talent, which he has a ton of.

Yeah, I thought there were two things. Additionally, first of all, there was a lot of no huddle. There was some up-tempo. I would assume we're going to see that in the regular season. Why would you be doing it in the preseason if you're not going to do that in the regular season? And then there was a lot of zone read with all four of the quarterbacks that played. And I would assume that's going to be a big part of their attack. Or it's certainly going to be sprinkled in as part of their attack.

Do you agree? 100%. Yeah, you have to. And the zone read, the threat of Jade Daniels run on the football opens up. It just locks in another defender, Keenan, or Keenan, Jayden, so the hole should open up a little bit better for Austin and Brian. So that element of the game will be their red and butter, in my opinion. The zone reads and the inside zones, and then the bootlegs and the play actions off of it,

and then obviously they'll have to deal with some third down things where he's going to have to read coverages and pick up blitz for that. But their key to success is going to be their first and second down usage of the owner's eat, the inside zones, and then the play actions off of it. They signed Martavis Bryant yesterday. Quinn talked about how Jahan Dotson is kind of competing right now to kind of figure out where he is with a couple of other guys in the mix. Jehan actually played more offensive snaps Saturday than any other skill position player.

He was playing into the third quarter. He played with all four quarterbacks. Do you have any thoughts on what that means as it relates to Dotson in just the wide receiver position? No, I have no idea. I think they do need to get more of a threat with Terry out there. I would love for them to trade for Granite on Ayuk. I think that would be perfect.

You know, but if they can't do that, but they do have to find another more stable target. I think the Army looked good. Obviously, the fade ball at E. He does some good things last year. Is Jahan more of a slot guy? Is he an outside guy? Still haven't figured that out yet.

I thought from an evaluation standpoint when he was in college, he'd be more of a slot guy. They have Jameson as well to do that. But I just think they need another. good threat on the outside, a bigger type threat that can, you know, match the athleticism if Terry has. Well, that was my next question. I'm not sure.

That was my next question. So you would be interested in Brandon Ayuk? Oh, hell yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That'd be good. That'd be a good one-two punch. I like Iyke because he's so versatile in what he can do. He can do some stuff on the inside, but he's a physical guy.

He'll be great in the running game as well, digging out safeties if he has to. on the play action where he really excels with Brock Purdy, which what she does, the flash and skinny post that he does, and he can run after the catch. Yeah, it'd be good for anything, really, but he'd be really a big fit here. I think so, too. I'm surprised at people who push back on that idea.

They're like, well, we already have a number one receiver. I actually think Iyuk's better than Terry personally, but not by much. Terry's great. But I think is, you know, way up. there. Like, you know, he's just outside the elite receivers. Is that how you would evaluate him or not? Yeah, he's just outside, but he's close. You know, I think all of good teams right now have two pretty good receivers. You know, you look at Miami, you look at Philadelphia. You look at San Fran with Debo and

Ayuk right now. And they, you know, so they have some pretty good players. You got to have two. You got to have at least two that can go up and get it. And the physicality that Iute brings to is what I really like about him because he seems like an unselfish player willing to go in there and block. And those guys are hard to find. And Terry's a good blocker. So all the perimeter screens and all the bubble screens when you throw the inside zone, you throw a little bubble screen out there like they did to Terry and the receiver and the receiver got blown up and he only got a game of two, that'll be IU blocking for

Terry now. And that's a more physical guy who you get more yards and, you know, the screen is the Echler and you've got to have physicality at the receiver spot if you're going to have these RPO-type screens that are necessary, especially in the offensive. the team is very once. How good of the situation do the 49ers have with their receivers as blockers with Jennings and Ayuk and

Debo? That's the best ever. I think it's the best ever. I've never seen anything like it. All three of them are unbelievable blockers. Jennings is probably the best one in the league. Iyuk's close and Debo's close. They're both close to as good as Jennings and that's hard to do. Jennings, they use Jennings as he does some things that F tight ends do. He'll's combination block with, you know, Kittle up to the next level. I mean, It's unbelievable how versatile they are and what they can do.

Like I mentioned, all these perimeter screens, these receiver screens, you've got to have receivers that can block, and that's why they get so many yards after contact because of the blocking downfield by the receivers. What's the right compensation for Ayuk, given that you're going to have to pay him? What would you give up in terms of compensation to the 49ers? You know, I have no idea, but you'd probably be a second or third round draft pick a lot of money. Maybe even a

first. I don't know. I don't know. But I would I mean, if Brandon Ayuk was in the draft next year, you're picking 15, would you take them? Probably. So I think he might be worth a first, actually. You know, because like I said, he's versatile. He's been productive. He's got good strong hands.

That's just something you have to look at. If you're going to drop the receiver next year in the first round, you're going to get one as good as Brandon Ayuk? Probably not. So why not trade for him now? He's already proven that he can do it. And he's a physical guy. All right, let's finish up with this. When you're on with me the first Friday before the regular season begins, we'll get your picks for the year.

But give me a team that you're thinking about right now in both conferences, the NFC and the AFC, that you think is going to be a sleeper, a surprise playoff team. You know what? It's hard to say because I think all the teams that made the playoffs are going to be good again. I think probably the Rams surprised people last year, obviously Lyons. but I think both those teams have done a good job in the off season, so it'll be competitive. Green Bay is going to be good again.

I don't really see a team emergent that did not make the playoffs that makes the playoffs. But you know that's going to happen, right? I think probably will come out of the South because that's the worst division. I think Tampa Bay still is a team to beat in the South. Maybe it's Atlanta. We all mentioned Atlanta. Heck, maybe it's New Orleans or maybe Carolina just shocks the world. Their defense is the bad.

and they have a good, they finally fix their interior offensive line, and maybe Bryce will play better, and they can emerge. But I don't see really anybody in the NFC, because obviously Seattle, I don't see, I don't see Arizona. Arizona's going to be a lot better, but I don't see them overtaken San Fran unless they have a bunch of injuries, and Trent continues the whole out. So, yeah, I don't see anybody in NFC. Maybe somebody's from the South, like Atlanta or Carolina to shock the world.

are you a believer in Dallas taking a step back this year or not because you loved them last year yeah i look still like Dallas i think uh zimmer will help the defense a little bit he's going to be a little bit more aggressive especially on third down um but they got to get cd they had to get this ross they got to get these salaries fixed they had to get their key players on the field i mean you you have to take care of your best players of cd and back those guys got to get paid and micah they got to keep their core nucleus of stars on their football team for them to be successful, obviously. But they have the makings of a good football.

They worry about their running game a little bit. I'm not sure Rico or Zeke Elliott is the answer. They're running back. But DAC is going to whip it all over the field. I think Zibber's defense will do pretty good. I think the Giants are going to be better. I think Giants are going to be sick. I really do.

Their defense line is very good. Their corners are going to play better. We got to see how Jones plays. Totally agree with you about the giant defense. You know, you coached, obviously, with Zimmer in Cincinnati. I've thought all along since the offseason, it's great to get Dan Quinn here, but I don't think the Cowboys are any less at defensive coordinator than they were last year. I think Zimmer is a really good defensive mind. Do you agree? Yeah, I agree. I think the issue Zimmer has, same with Dan Quinn, their ability to stop the run.

They've got to get better, and I think they got better personnel-wise on Dallas. I think the little linebackers that they had at Dallas really hurt them as far stopping the run late in the season. And now I think they added, you know, added Kendricks, which is a staple of Zimmer's defense. They got the guy they drafted, he got hurt last year overshown. I think his name is somebody like that. So he'll be back, which will help. The bigger linebackers will help. And then, you know, obviously getting the digs back is a big help.

He's a guy that's going to get seven or eight turnover of year for. He's going to get his picks. So they'll be better on defense with the addition of those bigger type linebackers. So my sleeper pick in the NFC is Washington. And it's the first time, Jay, I've been optimistic about a season since 2017. Since, you know, Kirk was still here, you were still here coming off that devastating loss at the end of 2016 to the Giants. But, you know, you upgraded defensively during that offseason. I still think the 2017 team, had you stayed healthy, would have been a playoff team.

but I'm more optimistic about this team going into this season than I've been in seven years. Are you, what is your, what's your thought? You didn't, they didn't jump to mind when I said, give me a sleeper in the NFC, but what do you think of them heading into this year? Well, their weaknesses last year, obviously their quarterback play. They're off-st-day-six-that with the draft of Jane. Offensive lineman, you've got to hope this Pullman guy emerges is a good left tackle because offensive line wasn't very good.

Getting the guy from Dallas, the center is going to help a little bit. But I think offensive line-wise is going to be key. They need that other receiver we mentioned before. It's got to be hopefully Dotson can emerge as that guy and be a consistent threat. Defensively, I don't know where the pass rush is going to come from. You know, Armstrong, that edge guy is kind of Farrell's not the edge rusher. Is Henry going to step up and make some plays with the edge of the edge? The interior is fine with pain and now, and we know they're solid,

but I just worry about their pass rush a little bit. and then how's their secondary going to be? You know, the St. Juice, that guy, is he that good of a corner? Michael Davis, you know, he's a long guy that can run a little bit at corner. So, yeah, I just worry about their defense a little bit, where they're going to get the pass rush and how they're going to hold up in the secondary and a rookie from Michigan. You know, Nichols got a blot on his plate

because he's going to face some pretty damn good slot receivers when he plays against Dallas and against Philadelphia and obviously the Giants. Yeah. All right. Thanks for doing this. We'll talk that Friday before opening weekend. Appreciate it.

All right. Thank you. Jay Gruden, everybody. Good to have him again in this upcoming football season on Fridays. All right. More right after these words from a few of our sponsors. I'm here again to recommend Window Nation. I mentioned at the beginning of the show that Susan L wrote me and said it was the best recommendation

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which windows in your home really need to be replaced versus those that don't. If you've been thinking about new windows and you want to save big on your utility bills and you want your home to look nicer, call them at 86690 Nation or head to windownation.com. Good night for the Nats last night. They finally got a good starting pitching performance from Jake Irvin. He had struggled. He went six innings complete, gave up two earned runs on seven hits, struck out three. But how about the performance of Andres Shapiro?

He doubled three times in a row, and he became the fourth player in Major League history with at least three doubles in his major league debut. he was called up yesterday. It was the first time it had happened since 2008. And then James Wood, outstanding again, four for five with an RBI, as the Nats knocked the Orioles out of first place in the American League East with a 9-3 win. They've got another with the Orioles tonight. A win over the Orioles at Camden Yards would mean that the Nats took the four-game season set with the Orioles.

They have won two of three so far. I wanted to read something to you that somebody sent me, that somebody being our good friend Sabah. Sabah is a huge Caitlin Clark fan, as am I. And she sent me this tweet from Joe Pompelano. Joe is a sports business person and the host of the Joe Pomp show. He's got 600,000 followers on X on Twitter. So he is, you know, based on that alone, I would say,

credible sports business reporter. And he tweeted out the following today. The WNBA's Indiana Fever have released mid-season growth numbers. Ticket sales. Sold out 100% of season ticket inventory. Total attendance, up 264. percent from last year. 186,000 fans have attended a fever home game.

230,000 fans have attended a fever road game. Merchandise sales. 1,193% increase in jersey sales from last year. Team store transactions are up 700% from 2023, and they broke the franchise single game merchandise sales record. four times. Concessions at the arena, hot dog sales are up 300% so far this year, and 2,826 gallons of draft beer have been sold. That's a gain of 740% from a year ago. Social media-wise, over 800 million views in the last four months on the Indiana Fever social media channels.

They've added 1.3 million followers since the draft when they picked Caitlin Clark. And they've had more social media views than any other WNBA, NBA, NBA, NFL, NHL, or MLB team over the last four plus months. Now, their season is going on, but the NBA was playing their NBA playoffs and finals, so was the NHL. and Major League Baseball is playing. That's amazing that they've had more social media views than every other league over the last four plus months. TV viewership, 38 games on national TV this year, the most ever in the NBA. Set records for the most viewed WNBA games on ABC, on ION. I don't even know what that is.

ESPN and NBA TV. Corporate partnerships. 25% increase in partnerships, largest number of team sponsors in the WNBA. And Joe Pompilano writes, and the 2024 WNBA season is only about halfway over. He writes, it's safe to say Caitlin Clark is a game changer. And I was thinking about this. You know, we had those stories, remember we had those stories prior to the NFL draft that people in Caleb Williams' camp, his father had suggested that Caleb wanted to go somewhere

where he could get equity in the team. We've had some of those conversations about various players in sports. Look, there's only one player in sports that might actually deserve ownership in the team that she plays on, and it's Caitlin Clark. None of the other players that have ever been mentioned have proven enough or move the needle enough for any owner or ownership group to dole out shares in the company. Now, I've made the case before that in the NBA, you might be able to make a case on a specific player at some point, moving the needle in a market that struggled mightily, like a Wembegnana, although San Antonio is not a market that struggled with the NBA team. But in the NFL, it's a joke. Like, the NFL is going to be a juggerna.

whether they have Patrick Mahomes in it or not. And quite honestly, the NBA will survive without LeBron James. We'll survive and would survive without Steph Curry. But this league that Caitlin Clark entered was a loser in every way financially. And the lift that she's given, I mean, it's probably something that they've discussed. I would bet her agent or her agency has talked to the WNBA or talked to the Indiana. It's actually talking to the NBA. The NBA is the owner of all of the teams.

NBA owners own the WNBA teams. The NBA itself has funded the losses of the WNBA during its lifetime of 25, 26, 27 years. she would be the one that would be able to say, yeah, can I get a point, can I get a half a percent, or can I get a percent of this league? I'm the one that's actually giving it a chance to succeed. I don't think any other athlete in any other team sport could really ever justifiably ask for and receive equity in a team or. in the league. She absolutely could. All right. There's one other thing that I wanted to get to,

because there's been some NFL news today. First of all, two other things to get to. J.J. McCarthy is out for the year. One of the six quarterbacks taken in the first round in the top 12 picks taken by Minnesota. That repair of his right knee or that surgery on his right knee showed that they had to pair a torn meniscus. So he is done for the year. He becomes the first, I read this on Twitter. So I, and it looked like it was from a credible source. And I can't tell you who that source was now. Let me see if I can find it again. I'd like to find it again. But I don't have the tab opened. the first first round rookie quarterback

to be out for an entire season since the actual current draft structure went into place in 1970 or it might have been 1967 one of those two years you think about the risk of injury and injuries are everything and yet a first round rookie quarterback

has never been lost to his first season due to an injury until J.J. McCarthy. I don't think he was going to be the starter anyway. I know that he played well in a preseason game, but I think Sam Darnold actually is the guy that they were eyeing to start the season. I'm sure J.J. McCarthy was going to play at some point, especially if the season didn't go well. You know, Sam Darnold, I actually liked Sam Darnold out of the quarterbacks that came out that particular year. And I've thought all along that if he got into the right situation with the right coach, it might work. You know, people said in San Francisco last year that Sam Darnold was every bit as good in practice as Brock Purdy was. And there was a lot of belief that, you know, if

Brock Purdy went down, they'd be fine with Sam Darnold. He just has had a bit of a shit show of a career being with teams like the Jets and the Panthers before landing in San Francisco. And Minnesota is a good spot for him. Kevin O'Connell, a really good quarterback guy and a good offensive coordinator and play caller. And they've got weapons, although Jordan Addison went down today in practice. I've not seen whether or not it's serious or not at this point. But, you know, this is why the quarterback conversation, Sam Darnold's 27 years old. He has some talent.

He's always had some talent. You put him in the right scheme, you know, that leverages what he does well with good coaches and good players around him, and he might end up being a guy that could be productive in that kind of a scheme. It would not shock me at all if Sam Darnold is solid this year. I'm not going to say he's going to be as good as Kirk was last year before he got hurt

or the year before, or a Jared Goff who has really thrived with, you know, Ben Johnson and the weapons that. they have in Detroit. But I think they were looking at him to start the season anyway. And, yeah, J.J. McCarthy, done there. They don't really have a backup. It's like Nick Mullins is the backup. So Sam Darnold's going to be the starter.

And what will be a really good NFL division? With the Lions and the Packers, both teams could win double-digit games. Obviously, Detroit will be picked to win double-digit games. I think they're over under in Vegas is 10 and a half or 11-and-half. And I think the Packers are at 9.5. And then I think everybody's kind of intrigued with what the Bears could be if Caleb Williams plays well in his rookie season because they've got so much around him. And then Minnesota has talent.

It's just whether or not Darnold ends up being a guy that they can be productive with. because that team was on the verge last year of getting on a major role when Kirk went down. They had evened up their record at four and four. They had beaten the 49ers on Monday night football without Justin Jefferson, and they were humming offensively. And when Kirk got hurt, the season went to hell in a handbucket with, you know, Dobbs and Mullins and Jared. I forget who else they played last year.

But it would not surprise me if Sam Darnold ends up being a, decent. And then there was another piece of NFL news that was interesting for our fan base. The Browns gave Jeremiah Owuso Coramoa a contract extension worth up to $39 million with $25 million of it guaranteed. Why is that applicable or interesting to us? Because most of you will remember that He was a guy that a lot of our fans and a lot of people in media predicted Washington would take at number 19 overall. But they didn't. They took Jamon Davis. And Ouso Coromoa ended up going midway through the second round.

He was a projected, you know, late first round pick. But there was a concern with him health-wise, which may have been the reason that Washington backed off of him. in the draft. He went in the second round number 52 overall in that draft. And I was looking for some information on what it was. I couldn't remember specifically what it was. I think it was something health-related, more than physical injury-related,

that may have been a slight concern. But the Browns chose him. He's played well. He made the Pro Bowl last year. And he just got a contract extension. and meantime, Jamie Davis might be fighting for his life just to make the team. That draft at 19, you know, the players that went after, immediately after, in the next few picks, Christian Darisot would have been the pick because they didn't have a left tackle.

You know, they needed a left tackle. They needed some defensive help as well. But Darisaw would have been the pick. He went 23 overall and has become a really good left tackle in the NFL. I think on the verge of potentially being kind of a perennial pro bowler at left tackle. But they took Jamin Davis and Jamin Davis is fighting for a job. Although let me just end the show with this today. I don't think Jamin Davis is at risk of being cut.

I had a conversation with somebody that I think would know. And from what I've been told, Jamin Davis is working his ass off, and they like a lot of what they've seen from him as a defensive end. You know, is it possible that the next two weeks will change their view? Yes, he had a couple of really good tackles in the preseason game, lining up as, you know, a three-point stance defensive end, and their base 4-3.

They clearly have Cleland Farrell, Dorrance Armstrong, and Dante Fowler, Jr., if you want to count him as a defensive end more than a linebacker, that you would think are going to make the team. They seem to like Giovante Jean Baptiste as well, but you really have to look at Jamon Davis now in the defensive end category.

And KJ. Henry, I think they like. So I'm just going to predict today on August, August 14th that Jamon Davis is on the final roster. Because I think that's a contrarian view at this point. So I'll go against the grain and say that Jamon Davis makes the team. And we'll see what happens. All right, done for the day. Back tomorrow with Tommy.